Better natural language processing allows chatbots to converse in a more
“human” manner. That's good for business

By Howard Rabinowitz

Chatbots will soon handle
85% of customer interactions with businesses

Companies are
using chatbots to engage with followers and interview job
candidates

Considering he’s been dead for 64 years, Albert Einstein is awfully
chatty. Or at least his bot is. In 2017, National Geographic unveiled
an Einstein chatbot on Facebook to promote its TV
series Genius. Users could quiz the late physicist about the
theory of relativity, the internet, pop bands—anything—and Albert
would respond with deep thoughts and witty quips. Asked “How are
things?” the Einstein bot would answer, “Since the universe is
expanding, farther apart than when you asked that question.”

The bot was a hit. On average, users chatted with it for 6
to 8 minutes a pop. More than half of them returned for a
second conversation.

The Einstein bot was pure entertainment, but it had a quality that
is driving more advanced development of AI‑powered chat: the ability
to converse with human‑like nuance. Computer programs that can
realistically simulate human speech rely on advances in natural
language processing and deep learning. Armed with this
technology, the latest chatbots can follow digressions, understand
semantic irregularities and grasp the emotional tenor of an interaction.

“Even just a few years ago, chatbots were very clunky,” notes Brian
Westfall, senior content analyst at Capterra, a service that rates
enterprise software. “If there was any minor hitch in your
communication, the chatbot would just break.”

The ability to carry on more natural‑sounding conversations means
that chatbots can take the place of humans in more and more
computer‑based interactions. They can act as a kind of personal
shopper, assisting consumers and boosting sales for retailers, online
and off.

Computer‑generated recruiters can aid corporate human‑resources
departments by guiding job candidates through the application process.
Healthcare chatbots can collect medical symptoms, recommend remedies
and make referrals to a live doctor.

Consumers increasingly are communicating with brands via these
virtual representatives. More than 1 in 3 say they interact with a
chatbot at least once a week, according to a recent Forrester study.
By 2022, bots are expected to handle 85% of customer interactions with businesses.

Many consumers cite the speed and convenience of talking to a bot,
yet when given a choice, most still prefer to talk to a person who can
better understand their needs. That distinction may be quickly fading.
Tomorrow’s chatbots will be able to engage with users on a more
personal level, display unique personalities, and interact with a
greater degree of social intimacy and apparent autonomy.

The Einstein bot, for instance, could play the role of the
wisecracking friend and even initiate conversations. “Out of the blue,
you would get a text from Albert Einstein on a Tuesday night, right
before the show, saying ‘Hey, how's it going?’” says Layne Harris,
vice president of innovation technology at digital marketing agency
360i, which created the Einstein bot.

Here’s a look at three sectors where conversational bots are
expected to play a big role.

Retail

In a 2017 survey by Segment, a customer‑data software company, more
than two‑thirds of shoppers complained of being frustrated by impersonal
interactions with companies. But as retailers increasingly rely on
chatbots, virtual agents with a knack for human‑like conversation can
help brands engage customers in a more positive, personalized way.
There’s money in getting this right: Bot‑based e‑commerce transactions are expected to
reach $112 billion annually by 2023, according to Juniper Research.

Small wonder, then, why major retail brands are experimenting with
bots that have the gift of gab. Whole Foods offers a mobile chatbot that
acts like a personal chef, suggesting recipes and culinary inspiration
via Facebook Messenger. It asks for your food preferences and dietary
restrictions, and directs you to the right aisle for ingredients.

Sephora’s chatbot on Kik, an instant‑messenger service primarily
used by teens, interacts like a stylish pal who suggests new cosmetics
and offers makeup tutorials. Kik users can also upload photos to
fashion brand H&M’s chatbot, which responds with personalized
style recommendations. The bot can turn a shopping trip into an
interactive social experience, letting teens share potential looks and
vote on their friends’ outfits.

The bots don’t pretend to be human, but they can add lifelike grace
notes that nudge customers toward transactions. When users tell
Walmart’s new virtual personal shopper, Jetblack, “I need a birthday present for a
three‑year‑old boy,” it eagerly responds, “My quest begins! How much
would you like to spend?” Since Walmart launched the pilot program in
May 2018, customers have reportedly accepted 79% of Jetblack’s
product recommendations.

HR

Adoption of AI in human resources is ramping up quickly. Chatbots are
at the forefront of the trend, with the potential to reduce HR
business costs by more than $8 billion by 2022, according to
Juniper Research.

Enterprises are using automated chat tools to onboard new employees,
provide training, and manage benefit requests. An employee can ask
some HR bots, ‘Can I take this day off?,’ then have the request
approved and automatically logged in the vacation calendar. “Chatbots
are taking HR self‑service to the next level,” says Capterra’s Westfall.

As the chatbots become more conversationally adept, they can play a
more important role in one of HR’s biggest challenges: recruiting and hiring.

For many job seekers, online applications are lengthy, frustrating
and impersonal. Notifications on the status of an application are
often vague or nonexistent; 43% of job applicants never hear back from prospective
employers, according to Canadian career site Workopolis. Meanwhile, HR
managers spend valuable hours screening resumes manually.

Conversational chatbots can guide candidates through the recruitment
process, cutting down the time it takes to apply, and providing
applicants with a more positive experience than receiving the standard
“We received your resume” response.

The tools collect resumes and contact information and ask about
candidates’ experience and skills. The bots rank candidates based on
their qualifications, provide answers to frequently asked questions,
and automatically schedule interviews for qualified applicants. “It’s
a very pleasant, conversational way of applying for a job instead of,
‘I’ve got to fill out all these fields,’” Westfall says.

L’Oreal is integrating chatbots into its high‑volume recruitment
process. The cosmetics giant, which collects more than two million online job applications a year
to make 5,000 hires, uses a virtual recruiter from Mya Systems. Where
an average human recruiter might spend 45 minutes on an applicant, Mya
completes the process in five minutes. The chatbot even can ask such soft‑skills questions as, “Tell us about a
project that you worked on that failed. What did you learn from that
project?” Based on the answers, Mya scores candidates on their
potential cultural fit at L’Oreal.

Still, chatbot technology has a ways to go before it can conduct a
sophisticated interview. At this stage, companies should be wary of
deploying it for late‑stage hiring.

“If you implement this too early and it provides a bad experience,
that’s going to do irreparable harm,” Westfall warns. “Besides never
applying to your company again, the candidate might tell their
friends. ‘Hey, I had to talk to this broken robot to apply for a job.
You definitely shouldn’t apply there.’”

Healthcare

In 2018, consumers logged an estimated 21 million chatbot
interactions in the healthcare sector, according to a Juniper Research
study. That number is expected to soar to more than 2.8 billion interactions by 2023, when
healthcare will account for 10% of all enterprise chatbot
conversations. Key to that growth is the rapid maturing of the
technology’s conversational abilities, says Michael Larner, associate
analyst for Juniper and the report’s lead researcher.

“Conversational AI is going to handle a lot more sophistication,
possibly more than in other sectors,” Larner says.

Babylon
Health’s conversational chatbot uses speech recognition to ask
about a user’s symptoms and, if necessary, refer the patient to a live
physician. Florence and Sensely’s Molly are
virtual nurses that monitor post‑hospitalization care, remind users to
take medication, and track symptoms for complications.

Healthcare bots will only gain in acceptance as their conversational
capabilities improve, Larner says. “You’ve got to make a natural
conversation AI technology so that the user doesn't even think about
it—so it’s second nature to them,” he says.

Larner predicts that as health chatbots become human‑like, patients
paradoxically will be more willing to confide in them than they would
with live caregivers. AI chatbots will always respond sympathetically
and nonjudgmentally, and the seemingly anonymous nature of the
interaction will make patients feel more comfortable admitting that
they haven’t taken their medication or have had another fall.

“You could argue that patients are more likely to admit these
things with a chatbot than face‑to‑face with their doctor,” Larner says.